Brian Kelly has flippant response for leaving Notre Dame high and dry

Brian Kelly turned the college football world upside down when he left Notre Dame to take the open LSU head coaching position. Kelly signed a 10-year, $95 million contract. Notre Dame is in the midst of a fight for the College Football Playoff, and the CFP selection committee chairman Gary Barta said earlier in the week that Kelly’s departure to LSU could have an impact on Notre Dame’s resume.

When asked about whether or not that had any impact on his decision, Kelly said that he believes a resume should only be up to the players that are playing on the field.

“Yeah, so I haven’t seen coaches play the game before. Players play the game,” Kelly said when asked by Rece Davis about whether leaving Notre Dame for LSU despite knowing the committee could hold it against the Irish gave him any pause. “If some of the criteria was the coaches playing the game, then maybe that would sway me one way or the other. So I don’t know how to comment on it other than players play. That’s the most difficult part of this. Leaving those that you’ve invested so much time in.”

Kelly on leaving Notre Dame for LSU: ‘I own that choice’

Notre Dame likely already has an outside shot at making the playoff, but it’s not completely out of the question. Georgia is locked in, but after that there are a lot of questions. If chaos ensues over conference championship weekend, Notre Dame could find a way to sneak in.

Regardless, Kelly said that he felt like he was ready for the next chapter of his career. Kelly said that he owns the choice of leaving Notre Dame for LSU.

“I own that choice,” Kelly said on why he left Notre Dame for LSU. “I own that as an opportunity that I saw that I wanted to chase. And it became a family decision. We felt it was the right time for this next chapter. We’re really excited about it.”

Gary Barta acknowledged Kelly’s situation earlier in the week, and his comments indicate that Notre Dame could truly be impacted by his departure in more ways than one.

“The committee obviously is aware of all the coaching changes while we were going through the rankings,” Barta told Davis. “This week, it didn’t apply because the games had occurred and we evaluated based on those games. Once the championship games wrap up… our protocol does include the ability for the committee to consider a player or a coach not being available. And should that have an effect on the outcome of the game, that can be considered.

“At this point, we’ll have to wait and see how that factors in. But it is one of the criteria that’s now added to strength of schedule, to head-on-head competition and winning championships, etc.”